Professional and business offices require an effective means for temporary storage and organization of file folders so as to be readily accessible throughout the working day. In this way, it is not necessary to place the files in or remove them from larger file cabinets except for more permanent storage.
There is an increasing demand for an open portable rack to permit stacking of file folders so that the folders can be easily placed on and retrieved from the rack, and the folders can be supported together in somewhat staggered relation to one another so that each file is readily identifiable by the tab on its upper edge and can be easily retrieved. For example, portable file supports which are now in widespread use in professional and business offices include baskets in which the file folders are laid flat and the entire stack of file folders must be removed from the basket in order to identify the individual folders. Vertical dividers are also in use in which a common base support has a number of closely spaced vertical dividers so that file folders can be vertically positioned and supported in the spaces between the dividers.
Other types of racks have been devised for supporting different articles. For example, the early expired U.S. Pat. No. 1,686,862 to J. W. King discloses a napkin holder having a generally V-shaped pocket closed off by end walls at each end. U.S. Pat. No. 1,096,731 to W. S. Lounsbury discloses a rack for holding loose leaves but also closed at both ends. U.S. Pat. No. 418,310 to C. M. Cott discloses a trough for straightening and handling sheets of paper while being glued together to form tablets and wherein the trough is closed at one end by a notched portion; and further a pressboard is removably positioned in the trough along with a second board used to clamp the tablets together. U.S. Pat. Nos. 168,423 and 2,691,447 to S. S. Schiffer each disclose a rack which is supported in an inclined position on a base support and has an end support at one end. Other representative are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,119,810 to F. E. Davis, 1,372,516 to J. A. Kimball, 3,164,254 to J. F. Gorc and 5,106,047 to S. M. Baer.